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Friday, April 17, 2015

Time Management of a Full-Time Working Momma: Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping

I have decided
to break up the time management portion of my “Full-Time Working Momma” series into
a few different posts.As you all know
by now, I can get a little wordy, and if I didn’t break this up, I’d lose you
about halfway through… probably sooner.Wait, are you even here to begin with?!

In my last blog post I discussed our typical weekday schedule, ya know, what we actually
do on a daily basis.Throughout this next
series about time management, I will incorporate all of the extras – grocery
shopping, meal planning, laundry, cleaning, etc. – when do I have time for all of this?!

The answer is
that I barely do, so I try to do certain things as seldom as possible.For instance, grocery shopping.I only grocery shop every two weeks because,
grocery shopping every week?#Ain’tNobodyGotTimeFoDat.

Every other Monday
is grocery shopping day, and I do it on my lunch hour at work.I'm fortunate enough to work close to home
and have a Publix just four minutes from our house (four minutes exactly, trust
me, I’ve timed it) so I’m able to get to Publix, get home to put everything up,
and get back to work in just one hour.It’s glorious!And not having to grocery shop on the weekend
= more time with the babies!

I have an app
on my phone called List Master and it is, by far, the greatest thing
since sliced bread.I love it so much
that one day I might even dedicate an entire blog post just to show you how I
utilize its zillions of functions.Anyhoo, I created a list in my List Master app of every single thing
that I buy from Publix, and they are listed in the order in which the items are
displayed at Publix, aisle by aisle.

The beginning of my grocery list. You can also color-
code each line to have a different color for each aisle.
I will probably do that one day when I have the time!

﻿Each item has a
little check box to the left of it, and I leave all of the items checked off until I make my list.Then the Sunday afternoon before shopping
day, I go through our fridge and pantry and uncheck the items on the list that we
need.I also take five minutes to plan
dinner for the next two weeks (usually 6-8 meals), and uncheck the items that I
will need to make the meals.Anything that
we don’t need remains checked off so I know not to buy it.

As far as meal planning goes, I have recipe cards for each meal that I make (around 20 different ones that are in the regular rotation) and they each have the ingredients listed right on them. That way, I have everything right at my fingertips to make my grocery list.

Meal planning
and making my grocery list for two whole weeks takes all of ten minutes, if
that!Plus I don’t have to worry about
forgetting anything since everything I buy is always right there on the list!(This also comes in handy in the event that I
have to make my grocery list away from home.)

Monday on my
lunch break I drive to Publix and zoom through the aisles.Having the grocery list in aisle by aisle
order enables me to be in and out of there in about 15-20 minutes depending on
how long I have to wait to check out.It
also means that no unnecessary items get thrown into the cart (can’t say the
same for when hubs goes to the grocery store) and I never have to waste time
hunting for anything.

And why Mondays,
you ask?I have found that Mondays during
my lunch break (I go from 11-12 to avoid the 12-1 traffic) is when my Publix is
the slowest.There aren’t many people in
there at that time, so I don’t have to fight to get down the aisles, and I
barely ever have to wait to check out.

AND since I loathe
grocery shopping so much (not sure why, but I hate it), I always reward myself with a Publix
sub to eat at my desk when I get back to work (#TreatYoself).Their website allows
you to preorder online, so it’s just waiting in the refrigerator for you when
you get there!If you’ve never had a Publix sub, RUN - don't walk - and get one right this very instant. Once you have one, you will never eat a Subway again! And for those of you who don't have a Publix near you, my condolences.

Time Saving Takeaways

Try to keep your number of trips to the grocery store
to a minimum.

Try to shop during a time when the store is not as
busy.

Find a list-making app that works for you.

Organize your grocery list by the order in which you
walk the aisles of your store.

*Reward yourself for digging through there faster than a Nascar driver!*

I do have to make the occasional trip to the grocery store on my “off” week for milk or fruit or other perishable items, but that doesn’t happen too often, and when it does, I’m in and out in five minutes.I hope you all enjoyed my tips for quick meal planning and grocery shopping. Every minute saved is an extra minute with your munchkins!

4 comments:

Whoa! This was so helpful. Yes. Please do a post about the app! Gosh, I'm so old school. I write a list weekly and it takes fooooorever and a day to get in and out of the grocery store. I do it by aisles, too, but it seems as though changing the day helps a lot. I used to go on Thursday nights when the hubby was home and the kids were sleeping. Hmmmm...I should start doing that again. Seriously, so helpful. Thanks, babe! :)

Thanks so much, Sara! I actually have a Recipes Tab across the top of my blog home page... I only have a couple of recipes listed so far, but I plan to add more. I will be posting another One Dish Meal pretty soon, so be sure to check back! And feel free to subscribe so you don't miss it! There's a place to enter your email address in the sidebar. :o)

Thank you for taking the time to comment... I read and respond to each and every one! However, if you are a no-reply blogger (meaning that your email address is not connected to your Blogger account), I will not be able to reply to you directly via email... you will have to check back on the blog post for a response!

Meet Lindsay

I’m Lindsay! Wife to Brian and Momma to Jacob and Olivia. Southerner. Georgia Bulldog. Red wine drinker. Cookie cake connoisseur. Music aficionado. Dave Matthews Band devotee. Friends fanatic. Travel enthusiast. Multi-tasking extraordinaire. Curator of pretty things. Lover of fashion and all things pink. Career woman by day and blogger, crafter, DIYer, and organizer by night. Welcome to my blog, where you’ll see the thousands of ideas that are always swirling around in my head finally come to life. I’m so glad that you’re here! ♥

*This post may contain affiliate links. This has been a humdinger of a week, y’all. It was only a four-day work-week and I feel like I’v...

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